Asunder
by DearJanuary
Summary: Fresh from prison, Sean is determined to put his life back together after eight years. He wasn't expecting to find someone had already taken his place.
1. 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi. I own the characters Deanie and Stacey. **

_She shouldn't have been there. Standing up straight, she was no more than three feet small, but she wore her hair up in a small brown bun to give her one extra inch. Her inky brown eyes dilated to the size of Reese's Cups at the sight of everything novel in the room that was plain and stiff at best, but at six years old, it was new and that made it interesting to her. A baseball jersey hung like a dress on her petite frame, bright blue for the Toronto Blue Jays, and underneath the table her legs kicked in black leggings, little jelly sandals covering her miniature feet. All Sean wanted was to see his daughter, but he wasn't at all keen on her seeing him in prison, in the blue jumpsuit with a number on his back, manacles keeping his hands contained. Little girls were supposed to think of their fathers as heroes, comedians, and knights without the armor, not criminals and prisoners. He already knew he had let his wife down, but disappointing his flesh and blood, Deanie Cameron, was a brand new heartbreak that nothing in his life, not any of his years at Degrassi or in Wasaga Beach had prepared him for. _

_He had discussed it with his wife, how Deanie wouldn't be allowed to come to the jail until Sean was granted physical visits. If in their late twenties, Sean and Stacey found it eerie to be talking through phones with glass between them, they couldn't imagine how strange it would seem to someone who just finished kindergarten. After four months of not smelling her children's shampoo, hearing her excited scream of a giggle, and feeling her soft almost plush skin against him, Sean was chomping at the bit to see his daughter. All he had was a picture of the three of them at her fifth birthday, taken by one of his best friends, Ellie Nash, all smiling behind the home baked double chocolate cake with a white number 5 candle lit in the center and 'Deanie' spelled out in M & M pieces. _

_Walking between officers, Sean had tried to catch a glimpse of his face in anything reflective he could spot, wanting to look as presentable as he could before seeing the tiny girl. There was a small square of plastic, acting as a window in the door that separated the visitor's area from the rest of the prison and he could make out enough of his messy long locks, curling at the end, and saw the healing cut underneath his left eye. _

"_There's Daddy!" Deanie's voice echoed throughout the room, a few other children at other tables, most older than her. Sean lit up like the star at the very top of a Christmas tree at the sound of her voice, relieved that she recognized him. She threw her arms over her head and he wished with all his might that he could pick her up in his arms. When she was a toddler and Sean would come home from work, she would run to the door and throw her arms up like that, pleading excitedly for him to take her for an airplane ride. He imagined she still would if he was there at their home._

"_Ten minutes. No politics, no business." The guard reminded Sean, uncuffing one of his hands and using the empty manacle to cuff him to the table. Sean barely heard the guard, his focus entirely on Deanie across the small brown table. She was sitting next to her mother, poised gracefully in a simple conservative shift dress in black that Sean always liked on her, even if it made the visit feel even more somber than it already was. _

"_Hey peanut." He reached his free hand across the table for her, but Deanie jumped up and away from her mother's side to sit right next to her Dad, grabbing what she could of his waist with both hands and burying her face into his chest. Sean lowered his head and took a large whiff of her hair, gripping her with his one arm and holding her tight enough to almost push her into his bones if it was possible. He noticed that she wasn't using the same shampoo, the smell of clean soft baby replaced by something floral. _

"_Daddy, when are you coming home?" She looked up, letting go of him slowly, and asked with inquisitive eyes. She posed the question just as she would if she was asking him what noise cows made or why couldn't they have marshmallows for dinner. _

_Sean felt the wind knocked out of him. He looked up at his wife, searching for an answer, but she just closed her eyes and bent her own head down, looking to her bare knees for help. When his exhausted blue eyes found his daughter's face again, she was still staring up at him, waiting and wondering. He didn't mean to, he fought it by biting down on his gums, but it was no use. His eyes began to well up and he sniffled without meaning to. _

"_Well, Deanie…not for a very long time." He ran his hand over her little hair bun, squeezing the bulb, and then covering his hand over hers on the bench. He had been sentenced to ten years for armed burglary and assault, the latter being an accident, with the opportunity for parole at six years. It was just a one-time thing. He had been walking a narrow path since marrying Stacey Mills at twenty two years old. Along with hers and Ellie's help, he was working full time as a mechanic at a shop he loved with clients he liked, he had a daughter that had him wrapped around his finger, and they had been trying for a second baby for the last two years. Jay had called him in the middle of the night, out of the blue, the two men hadn't even spent any time together since Deanie turned two, but he asked for Sean's help on one job and promised him a large cut of the deal. Stacey was just a makeup artist working in a department store and Sean's job wasn't exactly six figures, they wanted to move out of their apartment in Toronto and buy a house in St. Catherine's or Guelph, somewhere you could raise a family. Sean didn't imagine the whole thing would explode the way that it had. He hadn't entertained the possibility of jail time, let alone serious jail time. _

"_Daddy has to stay here for a while." Gently, Stacey explained just as she had countless times at home when Deanie would ask her where Sean was. _

"_You're not going to take me to grade one?" Deanie asked, curious and confused. It prompted Stacey to reach into her small crossbody bag for a photograph. She slid it across the table for Sean. Deanie was in a checkered red dress with a cardboard graduation hat on her head, Ellie crouched down beside her with a huge smile. The picture plus his daughter's question only made his tears fall out of his eyes, his lips joining in to quiver like he was the six year old. He felt like the biggest failure in the entire world in that moment. _

"_I can't, Deanie." He tried to explain through his shaking mouth. _

"_Why not?" She pressed. Sean swallowed around the large lump growing in his throat and exhaled loudly, attempting to regain some composure._

"_I just can't." Sean forced the words out of his mouth, but the answer wasn't enough to Deanie. She wrinkled her nose upwards and looked over at her mom._

"_Deanie, why don't you tell Daddy where Aunt Ellie took you last night?" _

_Silence fell between the once happy family and all eyes were on Deanie. She pulled her hand out from underneath Sean's and placed it on her lap with her other, fidgeting the two together and trying to figure out on her own why her dad wasn't coming home. _

"_What did you do, peanut?" Sean tried, looking down and asking her in a patient voice he hadn't used in a while, not since the day before he was arrested and he was asking her to try to go to sleep. _

"_She took me to see Uncle Jimmy's 'asketball game." Sean wasn't really close with Jimmy, but they knew one another still through Ellie as she had a good relationship with him, most people speculated they were still dealing with romantic feelings for one another. Deanie had never seen a real basketball game before, so seeing one conducted in wheelchairs was utterly fascinating. "And then Grandma Cameron came in and we made cookies." Deanie talked to her hands, not looking up at her parents or anyone else in the room. _

"_She wanted to bring you some, but it's prohibited." In a whisper, Stacey explained. _

"_Well, that sounds like a lot of fun. Are you being good for Mom?" His eyes were finally starting to dry, stains from tears shimmering slightly on his cheeks. It was bad enough that his daughter had to see him in his prison blues, but now she had witnessed him crying. Of course, he had cried at her birth, but it wasn't like she had any recollection of that. _

_Deanie nodded, barely moving her head at all. _

"_Ellie's been over a lot. She's been great." Stacey owed a lot to the redhead. She could have written the whole family off after Sean's stunt, but she rose to the occasion and helped hold the pieces together. She wasn't foreign to Sean Cameron mishaps and took it upon herself to make sure Deanie was picked up from kindergarten for the remainder of the year and that Stacey could work without having to worry about daycare and babysitters. As far as Stacey was concerned, Ellie Nash was sent by God. "How have you been doing?" Stacey tapped underneath her eye and nodded at Sean's face. He knew she was asking about the cut. _

"_It's nothing." He mouthed, assuring her with the blue eyes that could still hypnotize her even after everything that had happened. Sean held Deanie's hand again, pulling it over to rest contently on his knee. "I'm starting in the shop here tomorrow." He told her, happy that he would be able to generate some money even if it was the same as chesterfield change. It would be nice to have something stimulating to do besides push ups in his cell, staring at the ceiling, and sitting around outside a few hours a day. _

"_Daddy, come home." Deanie looked up and only a nanosecond later, the buzzer sounded throughout the room to signal that their ten minutes had finished. "I want you to come home!" She shouted, not understanding the situation. The guard that had led Sean to the table kneeled between him and his daughter to handcuff both his hands again, leading him away by the shoulder. Sean wanted just one more minute, but he knew that asking wouldn't do any good. _

"_I love you very much, Deanie, you know that, right?" He leaned in to kiss her cheek, but she threw her arms around his neck and tried to pull him towards her for keeps. _

"_Come home!" She wailed, causing Sean to begin to tear up again as the guard's strength removed from his daughter's reach and was taking him further and further away. The small talk hadn't been enough, he needed more time, he needed to make promises and tell her how important she was to him. He wanted to apologize and explain things better. _

_Stacey had rushed around the table and gathered Deanie close to her, muffling her cries into her stomach, but Sean could still hear them until he was fully escorted out of the room._

Eight years had passed like a snail moving through a road of molasses, but Sean could still hear his daughter's hysterics. Every time he curled up at night, even when he had the cellmate with sleep apnea who snored like it was a weapon, he could hear Deanie howling in his head. She never came to see him again after that. Stacey would visit every chance she was given, but Deanie would drop to the floor and throw a temper tantrum when asked to come, so Stacey never brought her. She explained it to Sean as being "too hard" for the little girl. She was just fourteen now, her birthday passing a week ago, and Sean was surprised that she hadn't come by. He thought that once she graduated from the single digit ages, she might have been more up to coming, old enough to comprehend more, but she never showed. He asked Ellie about her every time she visited him, which was once in a while, and she always gave him full reports – even things he might not have wanted to know. She never brought pictures though, leaving Sean to only remember his daughter as a teacup sized princess with a major set of lungs.

His first chance at parole had been declined due to fights always breaking out around lunch time and Sean always being caught somewhere in the middle of the chaos. After that, Stacey had shown up and expressed that she wanted a divorce, which she cared about Sean very much but that she needed to move on. He didn't want to, but he gave it to her without much argument. It was the least he could do after messing things up the way he had for them.

He was granted parole now, two years early from his release, and he was just hoping with crossed fingers that it wouldn't be too late. With a large Ziploc bag full of his personal items: an old cell phone, his wallet, twenty four dollars, an expired license, and a half-finished pack of spearmint gum, he left the prison behind and breathed in the gust of June wind with gratitude. Foolishly, he expected to see his Jeep pulled up in front, Stacey behind the wheel and Deanie playing with plastic farm toys in the backseat, but a brand new Eclipse pulled up instead, Ellie sitting in the driver's seat with a flashy smile.

"You're back!" She celebrated out loud, jumping out of the car and rushing around it and throwing herself at Sean. "Man, you need a shave." Right in his ear, she laughed as he folded his arms around her back and hugged her.

"Thanks for picking me up." He had a lot to thank Ellie for and he wanted to make it up to her, he just wasn't sure how.

"No problem. Come on in. It's a bit of a mess." She explained before going to get behind the wheel again. Sean slid into the passenger seat, pulling the belt over his body, and looked over his shoulder at her backseat. There was photography equipment neatly packed away, but not much of a mess to speak of. He remembered how easily his Jeep collected junk especially when Deanie was a newborn. "So, where am I taking you?" She asked, one hand on the wheel as they pulled out of the prison's gates and the other collecting her red hair behind her ear.

"That's a good question." Sean chuckled under his breath. He didn't know where he could go. He wondered silently if his brother would take him in, but he didn't want to be a burden. "22 Tinder Crescent?" He tried, hope in his eyes as they watched Ellie's face.

She squinted before looking over at Sean and apologetically turning the corners of her lips downward.

"They don't live there anymore, Sean." Ellie had helped them move out their boxes and load them in a Uhaul two years ago. "Your things are in storage though. We took them up to Wasaga Beach and most of them are in your parent's basement. You know, they would probably be happy to have you." Ellie found the bright side in an otherwise drab situation. "I would love to have you, but my place is so small and Jimmy's moving in right now, so it's kind of under construction."

"That's okay. I remember you saying that." She had been the last person to pay him a visit. "Where are they now?"

Ellie knew exactly who Sean was referring to, but she chose to ignore the question.

"Are you sure you don't want to try your parents? I can drop you off at Union or we could just drive up there. I don't mind."

"Ellie."

She argued mentally with herself, replaying the conversation she had had with Stacey only days ago, but gave in. Sean was staring intensely at her profile and she felt in her gut that he had a right to know where his ex-wife and daughter were. She hoped that Stacey wouldn't be too upset with her for being honest with him. She could understand both parties' positions and it was hard to be put in the middle. Jimmy had told her that morning to respect Stacey's wishes, but Ellie just couldn't help herself. Her conscience was rooting her to tell Sean.

"They moved over to Yorkdale two years ago. Stacey's managing the cosmetics department at the Holt Renfrew over there." Her stomach twisted a new knot at its pit. "I wanted to tell you, but it didn't feel like my place."

"I understand." Sean said while biting on the tip of his tongue. "Yorkdale's not far." It was much closer than Wasaga.

"Sean, I can't. She has a different life now."

"I think I have a right to see my daughter. She didn't take full custody." Sean was not going to let up and Ellie knew that. He had been stubborn when they were together and that was back before he even had any hair on his chest. She knew that whether or not she brought him to Stacey's house that he was going to find a way there on his own.

"Don't you want some of your stuff? Freshen up before you just waltz on in for the first time in eight years?"

Ellie had a point. She also knew that if she brought Sean to his parents place that he would be occupied with talking to them, or at least his mother, for a while and she could return to her life and out of the drama that Sean's was about to unload.

**I'd love to hear some reviews. I just started writing again and this just kind of came to me. I'm excited for the next few chapters. **


	2. 2

Sean hadn't had a private leisurely shower in eight years and even though he was eager to reunite with Stacey and Deanie, he helped himself to a twenty five minute shower in the comfort of his parent's bathroom. The hot water ran down his toned body rapidly, blessing every curve and crevice of his build. He kept his eyes closed as the shampoo rinsed out of his locks, playing over the last time he showered with his wife. She was working in the evening and had their apartment to herself since Deanie was in kindergarten and Sean at the shop. As a surprise, he came home at noon with the hopes of a hot meal, but was greeted by the sound of running water instead. He peeled the shower curtain back slightly and watched her head go from one side to the other, the steam rising out of the shower as hot water cascaded down her bare chest. Her back was to him so Sean took it upon himself to wander down her perimeter, his eyes tracing over her hips that he was an obvious fan of. Stacey had been curvy when they met, a playground for a body in Sean's mind, but after bringing Deanie into the world, she couldn't shrink her hips down. It bothered her to no end, but Sean only encouraged her to leave them be. She turned around slowly to finally rinse her hair and she gasped at the sight of her husband watching her, not expecting anyone else to be home. She smiled with a hand over her chest as she realized it was only Sean. He peeled off his shirt and then stepped out of his pants and briefs to come in and join her, hands instantly going to her hips as if he needed them to help keep his balance.

Opening his eyes, Sean looked himself over in the mirror and shook the excess water out of his hair. He wondered if Stacey had changed much. He hadn't seen her since their divorce was final. It wasn't a shock to him since she told him that she wouldn't be able to come by as much anymore. He should have figured that she had moved.

He asked his mom a series of questions before leaving. She told him that he did, in fact, look alright and smell good. She told him that Deanie had grown up quickly, but happily, that the teenager had a knack for mischief like her father, but was a much better student than him especially in English. It wasn't until Sean asked what Stacey's new phone number was that Mrs. Cameron went silent. She compromised and called his ex-wife for him, thinking it would be better that way.

"She didn't pick up." Sighing, Mrs. Cameron put the phone down from her ear and sat back down at the kitchen table across from her son. Sean was practically shovelling scalloped potatoes into his mouth, but he stopped with a look of hopelessness. "She could be working. She's a manager now."

"I know." He said after swallowing, reaching for his glass of water to clear his throat. "Why is everyone reluctant to tell me her address? What do you think I'm going to do?" Sean asked.

"You aren't known for rational decisions, Sean." His mother reminded him sternly. "We're just all considering what's best for Deanie."

Frustrated, Sean hunched forward and gripped his gold locks tightly in one hand, thinking of how to handle the situation.

"Does she know I'm out?" He checked, sliding his blue eyes over to his mother before she took his plate and walked away.

"I don't know." Honestly, she replied over the crash of the plate and fork joining the other dishes in the wet sink. "I don't know what Stacey and…" Quickly, Mrs. Cameron stopped herself. "That's why I'd like to talk to Stacey myself first, make sure everything is okay, find the best time for you to go over there."

"Mom, come on." He helped himself out of the chair and went straight to the kitchen counter where his mother stood, much shorter than he, and put one hand on each of her arms before laying his gaze on her. "I haven't seen Deanie since she was six. I don't want to wait one more day, you got to understand…" Sean hoped that she did. There was a time where the two of them were estranged and he remembered coming home, while it was an adjustment, and ultimately been the best thing for them. He was just a few years older than Deanie was now and he needed both his parents.

"Oh, fine." Exasperated, she heaved a heavy sigh and gave him his daughter's new address.

Over and over in his father's pick-up, Sean practiced what he would say when he arrived at 19 Witten Gate. He cleared his throat and tried different 'hello's' and checked a couple alternations of smiles in the rear view mirror at red lights. His heart was threatening to beat right out of his chest, his nerves were on high, but Sean tried to keep hopeful. Maybe, she would rush out of the house and leap into his arms. Maybe, she would weep uncontrollable tears of joy. He didn't want to think about the alternative, the door slamming in his face, the look of disgust in her big brown eyes.

After an hour and a half of driving, he was close to their new home, somewhere just ten or so minutes away. He passed by the overwhelming Yorkdale shopping center and figured that was why they moved out here. It was close to Stacey's new work. Sean imagined that Deanie spent a lot of time there, as well, remembering how much girls enjoyed walking around the mall when he was Deanie's age and spending almost all of his time with Emma and her friend, Manny. He found his way easily to Witten Gate, following the instructions his mother drew for him on a napkin. He thought she might have had the wrong street though since every house was large and looked like it could fit two families each. He was anticipating a small bungalow, yellow in color since that was what Stacey always talked about when they were planning their life, and a small garden outside the front door for Deanie to toss a baseball around in. 19 Witten Gate could not have been further away from what Sean envisioned. The place was luxury in house form. The front yard seemed to run on and on with green of a luscious mantis, a tall stone gate built around it and leading up a stone driveway where a large red Escalade sat sparkling under the sunshine through the tree branches. The house was two stories with four huge bay windows in the front, hibiscus trees aligned with the path leading up to the brown door. He had only been to houses that large when he was a teenager crashing house parties. Sean studied the napkin after turning off the truck, making sure it really did say '19 Witten Gate' and that his eyes hadn't deceived him for nearly two hours.

Deciding that this was the right house and Stacey must have won the lottery or was in major debt, Sean hopped out of the truck and cleared his throat as he headed up to the front door of the house. He rehearsed mentally for the last time what he would say when he saw his two ladies again before striking the brown door with twice with his fist and then ringing the doorbell.

"I got it!" On the other side, he heard the sound of a girl and he knew right away that it was Deanie. The sound of her voice caused chills to grow through his arms. He fixed the sleeves of his one button up shirt pointlessly and took in a deep breath. When the door finally swing open, Sean looked down out of reflex, expecting a giggling little girl with her arms high up in the air. He scanned upwards, his eyes taking in two long straight legs, and found Deanie looking back at him peculiarity. She had been very obviously growing in the past eight years. She was almost at his height. He couldn't believe it. She was a straight needle, no twist or curve to her. Deanie was practically ninety percent legs, five percent long ponytail, and five percent everything else. Sean gasped as he studied her face, she still had his smile and his stare even with her mother's eyes.

"Can I help you?" Curiously, Deanie asked while leaning her side up against the door. Her free hand played with the bottom of her blue sundress. It would have been appropriate on anyone else, but due to being taller than most girls her age, it was far too short.

It hit Sean like a sucker punch to the gut, and he knew how those felt, Deanie didn't recognize him. A thousand words rushed from his head to his mouth, but they couldn't come out. What could he say to her? Maybe his Mom and Ellie were right, he should have waited. He should have called ahead. He had just been so anxious to see her. He stood still, his eyes lost, while Deanie waited. She wondered if, maybe, he was canvassing.

"Deanie, you're going to be late." Muffled, but strong, a man's voice came from upstairs. Sean heard quick footsteps and the sound of whistling. He felt protective suddenly and wanted to charge into the house as if it was his, push away any man who dared to try and replace him. As he felt his blood pressure rising, he spotted the last person he thought he would ever see again in his life. It had been years, decades, and Sean had practically forgot all about him, but there he was, his hand messing up his daughters ponytail with a giant smile across his face, Craig Manning.

Craig and Sean just stared, hypnotized by the surprising sight of one another. Deanie's eyes shifted back and forth between them, trying to decode what was happening around her.

"Dee," Cautiously, Craig began, moving his hand onto his stepdaughter's shoulder. "Go get ready for your lesson." He reminded her in monotone. Nodding, she took off up the stairs like a bat out of Hell, happy to be away from the awkward tension.

Craig didn't waste a second. As soon as he heard Deanie's bedroom, he stepped outside, backing Sean away as he shut the door behind him.

"Sean, what are you doing just showing up here?" He asked, knitting both his hands into his brown hair and gripping it in distress. "You have to call. That could have been so traumatic for her!" Craig's arms threw themselves open animatedly.

Sean thought that was a most ridiculous question. What was he doing showing up there? His family lived there! What was Craig Manning doing there?

"Traumatic? I'm her father." He felt as if that title was still rightfully his even if he hadn't been around to act in his role.

Craig stopped his own terror for a moment and his eyes set solely on Sean. He felt pity for him, but he also wondered if he could even hear himself.

"This is my house, Sean, and I'm not saying you aren't welcomed here but you have to call ahead. You can't just show up. Stacey and I haven't had a chance to talk to Deanie about you yet. She doesn't know you're out."

Sean felt the gold band he wore as a symbol of his marriage to Stacey on his finger. He was always proud of it and he had slipped it back on as soon as the prison returned it to him, he hadn't even left the walls of the institute before it was back on his hand. He studied Craig's left hand next, a ring circling his left finger tightly and shining in Sean's blue eyes tauntingly.

"How long have you and Stacey been married?" He asked, his Chet heaving like he was losing all his breath, as if he had just been physically fighting Craig.

"Two years." He sighed, dropping his head and rubbing at his temple. "Sean, you need to go. I will talk to Stacey when she's home tonight."

Sean opened up his mouth to speak, ready to point his finger right in Craig's face and tell him he was going to stay there until he damn well felt like leaving, but the front door opened and Deanie re-emerged, taking Sean's breath away.

"Hi." She peeped like a mouse and stepped out of the house. "I'm sorry to interrupt, I'm going to be late... Could I get a ride?" Swinging a black violin case in front of her with both hands, a bag full of sheet music loose on her bare shoulder, she asked Craig. Sean almost answered her with a 'yes' though. He couldn't believe she didn't recognize him. Didn't she have photos? Had she not seen their dozens of home videos?

"Uh, yeah...yeah!" Craig snapped out of his conversation with Sean and focused back on being a dad. "We're done here." He said directly to Sean and headed over to Deanie as she was locking the door.

"Bye." Skipping off the front steps, her ponytail swinging back and forth at metronome, she waved lightly at Sean like she would any neighbour. He lifted his fingers to try and wave back, fighting his urge to tell her to put on a longer dress and that he loved her so much.

Craig watched for Sean to get off his property and back into his truck with untrusting eyes. He climbed behind the wheel of his SUV and put on his sunglasses, only backing out when he saw Sean drive away.

"Who was that?" Deanie asked, watching the white pickup drive away out of her mirror.

"Just an old friend of your mom's." He said for now. He remembered a time, ages ago, when he and Sean were close friends but that felt like a different life. Craig was a record producer in Toronto now, his life resembled nothing like the one he was building when he was a high school student at Degrassi.

He didn't judge Sean for his stint in jail. Craig didn't think he was a horrible person. Hell, he had been to rehab when he was younger. Everyone made mistakes, but Craig made it his priority to protect his stepdaughter. He promised that to his wife in his proposal and he had come to love Deanie as his own quickly. He couldn't just let her father walk back into her life when she hadn't seen him since she was three feet small.

Sean drove to nearest gas station, filled up, and turned around to Witten Gate again, but this time he parked a few houses down from 19. While he waited, his mind reeled with the fact that his ex-wife had married Craig Manning. He pulled out his old cell phone after slamming his hands on the wheel a few times and dialled the new number Ellie had given him.

"Ellie Nash." Cheery, the voice on the other line chimed like a bluebird.

"Craig Manning, Ellie? Craig fucking Manning?!" The first time he said his name, Sean sounded astounded, but the second time his rage was evident. The air was hot as he exhaled through his nostrils over and over. "Well, Ellie?" He had forgotten just how indebted he was to the ginger haired girl. Sean was blinded by how angry he felt.

"I wanted to tell you." Wishing she had something better to say, she finally replied. "I didn't know how, you know? In what world, would you have taken that news well? You had enough going on."

"I had nothing going on, I was incarcerated!" He argued.

"Don't yell at me. I understand you're upset, but I am the wrong person to take your frustration out on, Sean." Ellie knew how to be stern with Sean. He had pulled all kinds of stunts that tested her patience when they were teenagers living together. If he thought he could revert back into his thoughtless ways with her, the golden haired boy had another thing coming. "I warned you not to go over there right away." Ellie held her ground, reminding him that she had tried to prevent the ordeal he now found himself in the middle of.

Sean slammed his open palm against the wheel again and, as the sun lowered behind the tall birch trees in the neighborhood, he saw headlights illuminate the large house he had stood a trespasser on before. It wasn't Craig's SUV though. It was a small black mini cooper. He started up his truck again, reversing slowly, while Ellie remained quiet on the other line still. Sean's blue eyes studied the back of the head he could see in the car and he knew without having to see another inch of her body that it was Stacey in the driver's seat.

"Sean?" Ellie checked, her voice a little frightened by his silence. There were few things more frightening than an angry man silent. "Sean, are you still there?"

"I have to go, Ellie. I'll call you later." He said without thinking. As soon as he hung up, Sean shoved the cell phone with great force into the pocket of his jeans and rushed out of the car. His mind was prepared, he thought, he was ready to lay into his ex and tell her just how livid he was. He was going to demand to know how she met Craig, why she married him, what Deanie knew about him, and that his daughter sure as Hell better not be calling Craig Manning 'dad'. As soon as his feet hit the Manning's driveway pavement, he froze. Stacey spun around with her wide doll eyes at the sound of movement and stopped him in his tracks. She looked like she was about to faint at the sight of Sean at her home, but to him, she was still the stunning beauty that he knew he was going to marry the moment he saw her across the room at Ellie's first photography showing years ago. Her body was still toned, but still the shape of an hourglass. She was donning a tight black pencil skirt that was hugging her hips that he loved so much with a crisp white blouse tucked into it. Stacey's purse, a designer bag from Craig that was a gift just because, dropped to the ground as her mouth fell open.

"Sean…" She breathed out.

"This is so you, Stacey!" From the end of the driveway, he shouted, his hands curling into fists before letting them go in frustration and grunting loudly. "You would look fucking beautiful when I come to yell at you."

"Yell at me?" Her head went back as she squinted at him in confusion. "How did you get my address?" She wandered over to him, her tall heels clicking against the cement. "What are you doing here?"

"You're my wife; I shouldn't have to ask around for your address."

"Ex-wife!" She corrected.

"And I'm here to see Deanie. Deanie Cameron, not Deanie fucking Manning!" Enraged, his eyes shot open and went red as he screamed right in her face.

"Don't come to my house after eight years, Sean, and start shouting at me because I moved on!" Stacey had never been scared of the wrath that Sean possessed. She could always match his volume; she could throw every insult back at him and keep him in his place. While he always went after strong women, he never quite found his match until he met Stacey. He knew after their first screaming match that he wanted Stacey to be his for life.

He could feel her hot breath pushing down on him as she stood as close as she could to his body without actually being close enough to touch and as Sean's heart was racing, he cracked a smile and shook his head as he started laugh. Eight years locked away, but he and Stacey were unchanged.

"You need to leave, Sean." Stacey was not amused. "Don't you think there's a reason I didn't pick you up this morning?" Lifting a brow, she asked him rhetorically. "I'll call you sometime this week…maybe. I can't…I can't do this right now." She threw her arms up, her large iceberg of a diamond ring shining in what was left of the sun, and shrugged before turning to leave, but Sean took a wide step forward and pulled her back by the left arm.

As if on cue, Craig's vehicle sped up behind them, screeching on the road. Usually, he would pull into the driveway, but he saw the scene on his driveway playing out and couldn't wait. He jumped out of the car, keys in hand, and rushed over to shove Sean away from his wife.

"Don't grab her!" He warned and Sean's hand instantly retracted. "Are you alright?" Sucking in his stomach, Craig looked down at his wife and checked, putting a flat palm down on her stomach and kissing the side of her head as she nodded and whispered 'yes'. "I thought I told you to leave. I said we'd talk and call you." He had been benevolent with Sean before, but now Craig was pissed.

"I can't wait. I want to see my daughter." Sean put his desire to punch Craig out cold and went straight to the point.

"Deanie!" Stacey took her fingers from her long brown locks and snapped her fingers. "Where's Deanie?"

"She went to Josie Del Rossi's." Craig mentioned casually, Sean's head almost spinning at the idea that another person he went to high school with was around. "Look…" He didn't want to say it, but their surrounding neighbors were coming out of their homes and watching the three adults argue. The last thing Craig wanted was to be the headline of the neighborhood gossip column. "come inside, we can talk." Stacey looked at him like he was growing a second head, but he ignored it.

"Okay." Sean didn't consider it for a moment. He wanted a further look into his wife's new life without him, her life with the kid he knew to be a bipolar headcase in high school.

"I got to get groceries from the car." Craig walked away, getting back into his SUV to park it properly while Stacey kept a steady pace ahead of her ex, walking to the door and then letting him in.


	3. 3

They chose the backyard for their conversation. There weren't any breakables on the patio for Sean to destroy if he lost his temper as well as no pictures of Deanie to distract him. Sean specifically liked that he didn't have to actually sit inside their home. He was uncomfortable that his wife had a new life at all, let alone with someone he knew, and the longer he stayed inside their house the harder it was to deny that that life was real. It also didn't help that Craig and Stacey's wedding photos were framed around the house. It looked far more extravagant than Sean and Stacey's had. They married in a church in Cabbagetown at the request of Stacey's grandparents who were helping finance the special day. There was just about forty guests and Stacey adapted her sister's wedding dress to make it into her own. They were young after all and money took a backseat to love. From one of the pictures Sean saw on his way to the patio, it looked as if Robin Thicke had performed at the wedding of Craig and Stacey. Also by the size of the house and Stacey's ring, they were wealthier than Sean and Stacey had ever been. Not only had Stacey replaced him, she upgraded.

After an hour and a half of going back and forth on how to handle the Deanie situation and making very little headway, Craig had to excuse himself to call one of his clients, leaving the ex couple alone in silence.

"Are you sure you don't want something to eat?" Stacey was starving. She had been daydreaming about the spaghetti and meatballs she was going to make all day, but now Sean had interrupted their evening.

Sean shook his head 'no' and stared off into the backyard, lit up by the pool and rock garden.

"Do you guys celebrate Hanukkah now?" Out of the blue, he asked.

Stacey wrinkled her brows at him, "That's what you wanted to ask?" Leaning back into her cushioned wicker chair, she just chuckled. "Well Craig is Jewish, so we have Hanukkah here and on Christmas, we drive up to see my family." She answered, not sure what Sean wanted from her response. He seemed content with her though, his face barely moving to express any feeling at all.

"Sean, I really think it's best if I talk to Deanie tomorrow, see how she is with everything, and then I will call you. You have no reason to doubt me." In vain, Stacey tried one more time.

His head almost snapped, he twisted around so quickly, staring at the pool and then over at his ex to read her face. Was she being serious?

"No reason to doubt you? You did leave me for Craig despite 'for better or for worse'."

Stacey rolled her eyes, "I did not leave you for Craig. I always thought our vows implied neither of us would go to jail for a decade."

"Eight years." He spat.

"My mistake."

Silence fell back between the two. Stacey recalled a time when the two of them were so in sync that they didn't need to speak, but now pleasant conversation was a struggle. She wished Craig would hurry up and rejoin them, the businessman in him perfect to conduct the situation, but she wouldn't have blamed him if he had made up the phone cal as an excuse to get away.

"How did this happen?" Sean asked, looking around at the house that he could have never provided for his family, no matter what he did. "You and Craig?" Stacey was reluctant to share more with him than she already had. He was in her home, wasn't that enough?

"Sean, you should really get going. Deanie will be home soon and I want to handle this properly." After glancing at her cellphone on the glass patio table, Stacey realized just how close it was to her daughter's curfew.

"Were you with him before we divorced?" Sean continued.

Closing her eyes, Stacey wished to disappear in the darkness. She would have paid anyone to switch places for the evening as Sean was causing her more pain than he probably realized. She wondered what she would do on her first day out after being in prison for eight years? Collecting the answers to her all questions might not have been on the top of her list, but she wasn't surprised that it was all Sean wanted.

"You were, weren't you?" Sean snickered to cover up the fresh wound growing inside him. "Jesus Christ, Stacey."

"I did not plan it. Don't make me the villain, Sean. I loved you every day and I still care about you." She tried to make clear, over-annunciating every word as she leaned against the table'a edge. "I met Craig through Ellie when Deanie was about eight...and I didn't let anything happen, I kept him at a far distance for two years, but you weren't being released and things were getting very difficult out here in the world. I did not mean to fall in love with Craig and, once I did, I did the right thing and we divorced. I never betrayed you." She promised, but Sean was unconvinced.

"Deanie, doesn't call him Dad, does she?"

"No." Stacey gave him what he wanted finally, assuring him that his role remained vacant. She stood up onto her feet, desperate to kick off her shoes and started to head inside, pulling the door open for Sean to follow. She didn't make it plain, but she was walking him out. Sean took his cue, remembering that he was merely a guest at most in their home and got up to follow her.

"I'm sorry for everything, you know," He was just about to leave their house, Stacey holding the door open in front of him with anxious eyes.

"You've already apologized, Sean." She dragged a few fingers through her dark mane and assured him sweetly. He had apologized to her countless times since incarcerated, remembering how he sobbed in the court room to her after the verdict was read aloud.

"I just never meant for things to change like this. If I could go back and..."

"Sean," Stacey left the door open and stepped closer to her ex, putting a hand on his shoulder and beaming. "It's okay. My life is good and yours is going to be, too."

Wishing to one day believe her, Sean feigned a smile and left, hearing the door lock behind him. He went slowly down the driveway, wondering what to make of his new findings. The psychologist in prison warned him that life would not have waited for him and adjusting new changes would prove difficult, but he had been stubborn enough to think he would be absolutely fine. He figured he was tough enough to weather any storm life brought him, but his whole body felt heavy and he moved sluggishly like he had been awake for days or through a war.

Nearly nipping his toes, a car pulled up in front of him. As quickly as it pulled up, Deanie jumped out ofte backseat with her violin in one hand and a strawberry frappé in the other.

"Bye Josie. Bye Mr. Del Rossi, thanks for the ride." Laughing, she closed the door and the car drove away from her. "Hello." Casually, she acknowledged Sean, remembering him from before, and sipped through the green straw of her drink.

Sean merely pursed his lips back.

"Did you have fun?" He asked, surprising himself with the question and how easily it came out of his mouth. He turned around and watched as she looked over he shoulder at him.

"Uh, yeah, violin lesson." She waves her black case at him, figuring he was asking about that and not how hanging out with her school friend was.

"How long have you been playing?" He continued.

Deanie tightly shut her bug eyes and thought for a moment, "Since I was, like, eight. So a while."

Sean nodded and wanted to ask if she still played softball, but stopped himself.

Out of the window on his way down the stairs, Craig spotted the two chatting outside and popped out the door to put an end to things.

"Deanie, come inside." He called and she right away started to rush away from Sean, waving goodbye.

Sean lifted up his hand and waved goodbye motionlessly to her backside.

Bolting through the door, Deanie's mouth never uncovered her straw, but she still smiled at Craig, his hands were tucked away in the pocket of his jeans, his flannel shirt unbuttoned over a black shirt. He always dressed like a die hard Nirvana fan and he carried it on into his adult years.

"Your mom just started dinner." He told her as she stepped out of her jelly sandals, trying to make them appear tidy by the front door.

"I ate at Josie's. They made some eggplant thing." She shrugged and wandered into the foyer, anxious to see her mom after a whole day apart.

"Hey Deanie, what was he talking to you about out there?" Quietly, Craig asked.

"Mom's friend?" She wondered why Craig wanted to know, but decided not to press. Deanie had learned early in life that if someone didn't tell you something, you were supposed to know. "He just asked how violin was and when I started to play." At least that was how Deanie took his questions.

"Okay." Craig nodded and made sure the door was locked. "I was just wondering." He followed her into the kitchen, the scent of tomato sauce and sound of water boiling wafting through the large room. "Sorry, that took so long, beautiful." Craig walked up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist, humming with his cheek against hers. "You were okay down here with him?" He asked with a low voice, hoping Deanie couldn't hear. She had take refuge on a stool at their island, slurping her frappé and flipping through a Billboard magazine that was lying there. Stacey simply nodded and continued to roll balls of uncooked hamburger meat.

"Deanie, how was violin? What did your teacher say?" Calling out, Stacey asked. Craig took that as his cue to let go of his wide, so he unwrapped his arms and went to the fridge for a ginger ale.

"Fine. She said she could tell I practiced and wondered if I felt ready to audition for the city's junior orchestra."

Craig spun around with his eyes lit up like menora candles. Stacy stopped what she was doing and gasped with excitement, proud that her daughter was doing so well. Not every teenager with a convict father could prosper, but she had really blossomed into an interesting and tenacious young girl.

"Honey, that's wonderful. Do you want to?" Stacey asked eagerly, plunking the balls of meat onto a pan and trying to pay equal attention to her family and the food.

"You've got to!" Craig cheered, cracking open his pop can.

"I'm not sure. It's so much work. Rehearsals four times a week for two to three hours and I would have to be up early on Saturdays." Deanie really didn't see the appeal.

Stacy seasoned the meatballs generously and considered what Deanie had said. Craig was the musical one. He had sat down at the piano with Deanie when they were finally introduced and tried to engage her. It took some searching, but eventually Deanie asked if she could learn the violin after seeing a girl on television playing. Not even a day later, Craig had found teacher and took her to his favourite music store in the city to find one that was right for her.

"It's a commitment, but it would be worthwhile. You'll meet other musicians and get to play at some great events. It could open a lot of doors for you." Craig wished that he had made more of the opportunities that he had when he was her age instead of focusing on his weekends for doing nothing and making out with different girls.

"There's no harm in auditioning." Stacey reasoned, sliding the pan of meatballs into the oven to bake.

"I'll think about it." She mused before closing the magazine and slipping off the stool to go up to her room.

Through dinner and after, there was no mention of Sean Cameron. He never left Stacey or Craig's minds, but neither were ready to talk about it. They didn't really know how. When Stacey was given word that he was being released, she and Craig decided they would handle it when they were ready to - whenever that would be. After he put the dishes away, Craig went to the basement were his home studio was built to work while Stacey drew herself a bath.

Her hair twirled up into a large top knot, Stacey soaked in the hot water under bubbles while surrounded by her favourite vanilla tea lights. Her eyes had been closed and usually she could fall asleep in the tub, but not tonight. Her mind was full. Her eyes slowly pulled open at the sound of Craig's footsteps coming from tier master suite to the bathroom. He leaned against the entrance way and watched her with a lazy smile.

"Dee's asleep." He told her. "Passed out in her clothes on her bed, TV on..." Craig chuckled.

"Lucky girl. I wouldn't mind being fourteen and careless again." She mused, remembering how stress practically didn't exist back then for her.

"I would have liked to have known you back then." Craig came further in the room, sitting on the tub's edge and wading one hand into the water, finding her wet skin against his knuckles.

"I had frizzy hair and was in the yearbook club, you wouldn't have known I existed." She laughed. "But I would have liked to have known you." She leaned back and teased. The stories that Marco and Ellie shared with her were scandalous to say the least.

"Oh no, you would not have." Very seriously, Craig said right back. "What are we going to tell her?"

"That you were a big ol' slut." She teased. Craig playfully rolled his eyes at her eyes before raising his brows in a plea for her to be serious. "I don't know. I'm worried that she will go ballistic." They didn't talk about Sean anymore. Deanie stopped asking around the time she was nine or ten and even when Sean's parents came to visit, he wasn't brought up. They really liked Craig and thought he was a good father figure to have in her life.

"I knew we were going to have to deal with this one day," Craig explained, his eyes scanning the dim room as if there was a resolution somewhere. "But I honestly didn't think much about it." He gave his attention back to his soaking wife, half smiling since it was better than pulling out his brown locks.

"We will just talk to her." Simply, Stacey stated. "We have to." She was a doer, she always had been, and just like when she married Sean and when Sean was arrested, she kept her legs moving and hoped for the best. It was the only plan of action she saw fit now even if it had major potential to cause disaster.


End file.
